𝓛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓇 (𝒞𝑒𝒹𝓇𝒾𝒸 𝒟𝒾𝑔𝑔𝑜𝓇𝓎)

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝟣𝟫

"Yes, and you can ask your grandmother for more details," Morgana said, referring to Genevieve Sagewood. "She knows the story better than anyone."

"She's kept it a secret from me all this time?" Ariana asked, partly upset at the revelation. 

"She had to. You were required to discover me yourself. My phoenix always has repercussions if things aren't done according to the rules."

"Could you please explain what all this phoenix stuff is?"

Morgana leaned forward in her chair. "Over half a millennium ago, when I had driven myself onto a mission to kill my dear brother, I captured Merlin whilst unaware that he was a sorcerer. He...revealed his magic to me claiming he still loved me. It was — I can't even describe it, I was so...happy, but angry at the same time.

"I wanted to continue terrorizing Camelot," Morgana admitted. "There was part of me that was power hungry. I wished to be Queen of Camelot and lift the law that forbade sorcery. Merlin could tell, but he also knew I was torn. I love him, I never wanted to hurt him, but he was becoming a thorn in my side. When I found out he had magic I wanted him to join me. I wanted us to overthrow Arthur together. But he told me about Albion, he...he saved me."

Morgana's painted self made eye contact with Ariana, and the Gryffindor saw tears shining in her ancestor's eyes.

"I was so close to losing myself," she cried. "So close to losing everyone and everything. I thought I had nothing except my sister and my magic, but then I had Merlin, I had Winterfell and Gwen, and then eventually I had Arthur too. I had Camelot. My sister Morgause abandoned me the moment I turned to Merlin. She felt sorrow, she did always love me, but when I chose Merlin — when I chose Arthur  — over her, she began attacking Camelot more relentlessly than before.

"I would sometimes hear whispers of the Old Religion begging me to turn back to it," Morgana continued. "I felt dark magic coursing through my veins at a number of occasions. Eventually, it got so intense that I would end up falling to the floor clutching my head to prevent myself from blasting Arthur off into a wall. Merlin yet again saved the day by gifting me the phoenix. It is a mother phoenix, an incredibly powerful one. She bonded with me, and helped me follow the light and battle darkness out of my soul. When Merlin and I killed my sister, her magic was absorbed by Eclipsis. When I died, my magic was also merged into Eclipsis's own power along with Morgause's."

"Eclipsis — my phoenix — became the most powerful being in existence. The power was too great for her to control, therefore she needed to find and select a special witch who could withstand that power, having been born with the capacity for that power. A mistake was made a few hundred years ago. It has been difficult to find the perfect host, but Eclipsis is finally confident with you, Arianalisea. You are the first witch born of the Pendragons to possess the powers of Valencia Winterfell — although altered — too."

"...what?"

Morgana laughed. "The mist. The purple mist that you can use, that was never something I could do. Winterfell could control the core elements and was also the Queen of Ice. Icy magic would emit from her hands similarly to the mist. It has merged with my power and Morgause's power as well as Merlin's and the phoenix's to make you the most powerful being ever to exist."

"I'm the what?"

"Winterfell's daughter, Athena, had to forsake her mother's magic for twenty-five generations of witches. A sacrifice necessary for the sake of her daughter. You can ask Genevieve to tell you more. The twenty-fifth is your father. As his first-born, you automatically received all that power the moment of your birth, the twenty-sixth."

"This is a lot to take in," Ariana mumbled as she slowly knelt down onto the ground in front of the portrait, crossing her legs. "I'm the most powerful person on earth?"